


Cutting through Skins of Time

by Ptl4ever419



Series: Story Haven [12]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-29
Updated: 2016-01-29
Packaged: 2018-05-17 01:30:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5848696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ptl4ever419/pseuds/Ptl4ever419
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lily Luna Potter is packing up her childhood bedroom when recent Azkaban escapee, Rabastan LeStrange, attacks. Things get crazy from there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Lily Luna Potter had always been bright for her age. It may have had something to do with being the youngest of the Lupin-Potter-Weasley clan. She was the youngest; the baby who they had always tried to protect. She was packing up her bedroom at Grimmauld Place, the house she had lived in since she was a baby. The house she was leaving as soon as she was done packing. All of her family were at the Burrow for the normal weekend lunch; she had decided to stay behind to pack her room up while they were gone as she had been trying to pack up all week, but people kept interrupting her. She had 17 years worth of things to pack up so she'd best get started. When she heard the grandfather clock chiming three she started packing. She knew it would take hours and her family would be back at seven. Looking around the room she had just started packing she smiled as memories came rushing back looking through her old things.

——————~~~~~~~~~~——————

The remaining Potter family had just gotten back from Platform 9 and 3/4 after seeing Al and Jamie off. It was the first time both of them would be at Hogwarts, leaving her alone. All of her cousins except Hugo were there and Teddy had just graduated, then next year Hugo would be gone too. He was born right around the cut off so if he had been born a few days earlier he would have gone this year too. Lily was born about two years later on August 23rd. She was nine now, but she would be almost a year younger than some of her year mates when she got to Hogwarts. She didn't really care about being the youngest, but everyone else in her family treated her like a china doll because of it. In fact she had a feeling it would get worse by the time she was of age and boys started to interest her.

The Potter family didn't go out often into the Wizarding World; in fact, Lily thought, she was probably more comfortable in the muggle one than anywhere in the Wizarding World if the recent shopping trip to Diagon Alley was any indication. The first time she had been to the alley was when she was six almost seven and Jamie was getting his Hogwarts stuff for the first time. Everyone stopped and stared at her Daddy and Mummy. She didn't like it one bit. 

It was so bitterly unfair that she would be stuck here all alone next year without her cousins and siblings. She had a lot of them, at least she privately thought so. First there were Uncle Bill and Auntie Fleur's kids Victiore, Dom, and Louis. Victiore was in her last year at Hogwarts, Dom a year younger, and Louis two years younger than that. Then there was Uncle Charlie who didn't give her any cousins, but was so much like a kid himself that she thought of him more as a cousin than an uncle. But he lived in Romania with his dragons, so he wasn't home very often to play with her. Then there was Uncle Percy, Auntie Audrey and their girls’ Molly and Lucy; they were both a bit older than Jamie. Then there were Uncle Georgie and Auntie Angie's kids Roxy and Fred. Fred was Jamie’s best friend and everyone always said that they acted like Uncle Freddie and Georgie when they were in school because they caused lots and lots of trouble. Roxy was Dom's age and they were very close. Then there was Uncle Ron and Auntie Mia who had Rosie who was Al’s age and Hugo who was a year younger than them and almost two years older than Lily herself. Then there were her godparents Uncle Neville and Auntie Luna. Uncle Neville was married to Auntie Hannah and they had two kids. Frankie was in Louis' year and then the other one was in between Jamie's year and Al's. Auntie Luna was married to Rolf Scamander and they had twin boys, Lorcan and Lysander who were Hugo's age. Most of them came to Granmum's family dinner's that were every weekend over the summer.

Auntie Luna and Auntie Mia were her favorite aunties. Everyone else called Auntie Mia, Aunt Hermione for some reason, but Lily didn’t like that name very much. It was too much of a mouthful, so Auntie Mia let Lily call her that, which made Lily feel very special indeed. Auntie Mia had taught her to read when the kids Al and Hugo's age were learning because she noticed how left out Lily felt when she was the only one who couldn't do it. They had kept it a surprise and showed everyone she could read the books that the others could read. Lily was like a sponge in that manner everything she read or heard was never forgotten. Lily loved reading. She loved getting lost in the pages of a mystery or fantasy book. Her favorites were all muggle ones; the Wizarding World just couldn't write good books. She had also read most of the magic books in her Auntie's study. 

Auntie Mia, Auntie Luna, or Granmum were the ones to take care of the younger members of the clan while their parents worked. When she was with Auntie Mia she would often sit at the little desk in her auntie's study while her brothers and cousins were off making mischief. Rosie sometimes joined her, but was not in there as often as Lily. When she was with Auntie Luna usually the others were elsewhere so she and Auntie Luna would go off and look for the creatures in her magazine ‘The Quibbler’ or she would let Lily use the wand Auntie Luna had bought her when she turned six. They worked on all kinds of things with her wand, from pranks that would get blamed on her cousins or brothers to silly charms to spells no one thought of using in unique ways they did. Auntie Luna was the editor of ‘The Quibbler,’ but she also was a Charms Crafter. Lily had always been interested in charms crafting and because of that interest she learned Latin to help her understand what the spells meant, which was crucial. Lily had found she was very good at learning languages because of her memory and because of this her relatives that knew foreign languages taught them to her. She was now fluent in French and Spanish because of Auntie Fluer and Auntie Mia, knew enough of Romanian to hold a conversation with a native speaker because of Uncle Charlie, as well as Arabic from Uncle Bill, and enough Bulgarian to get by in the country from Uncle Viktor, who was a family friend. When she was over at Granmum's she was in the kitchen cooking, sampling, talking, playing, or simply sitting and watching her Granmum cook. Granmum didn't think Lily should be outside with the others for a few reasons. The first was simple she didn't want them to 'corrupt' her grand baby. The second was she was afraid that Lily would get hurt and that was a reasonable fear seeing as Lily couldn't fly and that was the main activity at the Burrow. It was almost as if brooms hated her, Lily thought, but whatever the problem she had not been allowed near one since she was seven and her Daddy was teaching her to fly in the Burrow’s paddock. She had fallen from it and broken her arm and gotten a concussion. Luckily Auntie Audrey was there, she was a healer, and got her patched up quick, but it had scared everyone so much that no one would let her near a broom now. She wasn't particularly scared of flying, but no one would teach her how to. And the longer they put it off the more scared it made her. So she was stuck in the kitchen learning to cook from the best. Not that she minded, Lily loved cooking. Lily thought Granmum liked cooking with her so much because her Mummy couldn't cook very well, it was always Daddy or Kreacher who cooked. Lily loved Kreacher she thought that he was immensely funny. The Potter's were the only ones who had a house elf, which Auntie Mia thought was a very good thing. 

Lily looked up at the clock in her room at Number 12 Grimmauld Place. They had always lived there. According to Mummy, Granmum, and Auntie Mia it looked much homier than it did when it belonged to the Blacks. Kreacher loved talking about the Blacks and Lily loved to listen. She sometimes had the feeling that he told her more than she was supposed to know about what had gone on in the house over the years. She was Kreacher's favorite out of everyone in the house. She thought it might be because she looked a lot like her Daddy's Granmum Dorea. Daddy had never met her though, something Lily wished she could change. Anyway, she and Kreacher would sit for hours when neither of them were busy in front of the Black Family Tapestry and he would tell her all about them. He even told her about the ones that Kreacher told her Auntie Walburga had blasted off the tapestry and Daddy had restored. She knew all the family history of the Blacks, the good, the bad, and the ugly from listening to Kreacher. She loved hearing about them, especially Sirius. His story made them both sad though so she only heard the ending from Kreacher once. He still blamed himself about Siri's death. He also blamed himself for Reggie's death. 

Siri and Reggie. That's what Kreacher told her they called each other so that's what she decided to call them. To not forget they loved each other. Kreacher had told Lily that Siri had asked Reggie to leave with him when he ran away to the Potter's. That wasn't the whole story though. Siri didn't so much as run away, but more escaped. Kreacher told Lily that Bellatrix had been there and was torturing him because he refused to join the Dark Lord, that's what Kreacher called him. Bellatrix had gotten really mad and taken Siri to the cellar and tortured him for days until Reggie had found him with Kreacher's help. They patched Siri up, packed up all his things, and helped him floo to the Potter's, but before he left Siri asked for two things. For Reggie to come with him and for them to put permanent sticking charms on his posters and pictures on the walls of his bedroom. Reggie had laughed softly with a sad look in his eye that Siri had caught. Siri had then looked up with the same look in his eyes and said, "This is goodbye isn't it, Reggie." Reggie had replied solemnly, "I think it is, Siri," chocking up a little at the end. She and Kreacher were the only ones alive who knew how close the Black brothers had been. Lily was always wishing that she could tell them that she knew. That someone knew how much they had cared for each other. She looked at the clock again and smiled happily, enough time had passed for it to be close enough to when they would visit the Burrow. They did it every year after each September 1st, all the remaining people from the Lupin-Potter-Weasley clan would gather at Granmum’s and Lily got to help prepare the food this year and it was close enough to the time Granmum started cooking so Lily flooed over.

——————~~~~~~~~~~——————

Lily sat down and looked over her room, still reminiscing, and moved to packing up her extensive book collection. All of her clothing was packed; the shrunken boxes already in her brown leather satchel. She had had the satchel all through Hogwarts. She remembered when Auntie Mia had gotten it for her. It had been on her eleventh birthday.

——————~~~~~~~~~~——————

Lily poured the gifts she had received today onto her bed. There was a tiny orange and white striped kitten that would stay that size from her Uncle Charlie. She decided to name her Portocaliu which was Romanian for orange. Lily also realized how long a name that was for such a tiny kitty so she would call her kitty Caliu. Next was the enchanted quill and notebook from Uncle Bill and his family. The quill would write down her thoughts on the pages of the notebook after she blood keyed both of them, which Uncle Bill had helped her with when he gave them to her, and the notebook was something only she could read once it was blood keyed. From Uncle Georgie's family she received the standard WWW birthday box along with the standard family communicating mirror and individual blood keyed Marauder's Map. It was a tradition from when Teddy first went off to Hogwarts and ever since then all the Burrow regulars had gotten the same gifts for their eleventh birthdays. The next was from Auntie Mia's family. It was a hand-stitched leather satchel that Auntie Mia had modified with a featherlight charm, an undetectable extension charm, had wards that would protect it from just about anything, and wards that would keep everyone, but Lily herself out of the bag once it had been blood keyed. It had nice pockets in it to keep the small stuff in and things could be summoned from it if it had the correct magical signature. From Uncle Percy's family she got a new series of books that she had been wanting. From Auntie Luna she got the standard yearly subscription to her auntie's magazine and a magnificent necklace that showed the current faze of the moon. Lily had been getting moon related gifts from her Auntie Luna for as long as she could remember; they both thought it was a wonderful joke. From Uncle Neville she got all the candy she would need to last the year and a beautiful crystal moon lily for the charm bracelet he had started for her when Lily was a baby. He gave her the silver rattle when she was born, the footprints at one, the snake at two, the book at three, the unicorn at four, the dog at five, the wand at six, the lion at seven, the butterfly at eight, the moon at nine, and the train at ten. Finally Lily's parents gave her a scrapbook that was half full and could be blood keyed if she so desired, which at the time she did not. They also added spells to Uncle Bill’s notebook so pages could be put in from parchment and flow seamlessly in and be taken out in the same way.

——————~~~~~~~~~~—–————

Lily smiled and looked at Caliu who was perched on top of her stripped bed. She moved Caliu into her carrier and put a light sleeping spell on her, then gently put the carrier in her satchel. Something was telling her she needed all her concentration for... something that would happen soon, she just wasn't sure what yet and that meant no curious kittens watching the furniture disappear and deciding it looked like fun to disappear too. She only had a few things left to do. Her parents had agreed that she could take all the furniture from her room with her, which included her bookshelf that had been charmed to hold more books than appeared possible. Her desk, which also was expanded to hold more and the chair that went with it. The rocking chair she had from when she was little. The chest of drawers and lastly the bed frame and mattress. Nothing could be within any of these while they were shrunken so her books, clothing, and trinkets had been put into boxes and in the case of her shoes, of which she had an extensive collection, were put her school trunk. Then the boxes and her trunk had been shrunken and put in her satchel. 

The walls of her room were the same color pink they had been when she was a baby. She sat down on the floor of her now bare, empty room and fiddled with her charm bracelet, which had been added to since her eleventh birthday. It now held a replica of the House Cup, which her house won her 1st year, she got when she turned twelve. The rune of protection she got at thirteen for her decision to take ancient runes. The Christmas tree she got when she was fourteen, her parents had decided to go to America on a romantic getaway for the holidays when she was thirteen and Lily who had always heard amazing things about Hogwarts at Christmas had decided to stay. The symbol of the Deathly Hallows for when her parents, aunties, and uncles told her all that happened in the war before her O.W.L. year. The O for the number of outstandings she got on her O.W.L.s. The ankh before she was going into her seventh year for Hagrid who had gotten into trouble with one of his animals in his old age and died. She always wore the charm bracelet and moon necklace her god-parents gave her. Even if she wore other jewelry they were still on; she just disillusioned them.

She remembered when they had told her all about the war, while she was horrified that her family had had to go through that she wanted to know everything that had happened. Just like when she had found out that Siri had spent 12 years in Azkaban. She researched the Dementors effects on prisoner being exposed over an excess of time. How it might be possible to destroy them. No one except Kreacher knew that she had researched Azkaban and the Dementors so extensively, though. So while she was at Hogwarts 5th, 6th, and 7th year she researched. She looked over all of the news articles starting with when Morfin and Marvolo Gaunt were sent to Azkaban. She found out every scrap of information there was on Tom Marvolo Riddle also known as Lord Voldemort. She also researched the muggle Riddle family. She interview people and asked for their memories of the events over her breaks. She asked Draco Malfoy about his mark and watched the memory of it being applied. She asked for and got the schematics of the Riddle House, the Gaunt Shack, Malfoy Manor, and all of the buildings that were raided by the Aurors during the wars. She asked her Dad to take her to the places where the Horcruxes had been hidden and explain their protections. She researched those too. She studied Horcruxes in depth. Her main focuses were the Dark Mark and the Horcruxes. On the Dark Mark she found that it could only be applied willingly, although some would be willing so he would spare their families, it could not physically be applied under the Imperius Curse. When talking with Uncle Draco, as he told her to call him as his son would be marrying Lily's cousin, Rose, within the year, she also discovered that Riddle, as she refused to call him that horrible name of his own creation, could track his Death Eaters through the Mark. On the Horcruxes and their protections, Lily found out that the Withering Curse that hit Dumbledore in the Guant Shack and the Drink of Despair would have caused an excruciating death if you consumed and were hit by both. 

She was able to make a rough timeline from Riddle's birth to the arrest of all the currently imprisoned Death Eaters. She studied the memories of the Death Eater raids to find patterns and weaknesses. What she found was that the Death Eaters did not trust each other and were thus not able to function as a group to follow through with plans. There were few weaknesses though. The main one was letting it go on too long and putting it crassly, ‘playing with their food.’ The other was only the Inner Circle members had a wide variety of spells in their artillery. The ones not in the Inner Circle had a few basic spells they used, the three Unforgivables, Reducto, Deprimo, and other highly destructive spells, which caused them to become predictable. She became the expert on Voldemort and his Death Eaters, knowing more about them than anyone who fought them.

Her Uncle Bill taught her a lot about warding the summer she turned 16 and her Daddy and Uncle Ron dueled with her over the Christmas break of her 7th year when she asked them to.

So knowing all she did about the Death Eaters it's a wonder she wasn't more nervous when Rabastan LeStrange's break out from Azkaban was reported. Or become frighten when her Daddy and Uncle Ron told her that LeStrange thought she, Lily a girl barely out of Hogwarts, might have knowledge on how to bring the Dark Lord back. And knowing all she did about him it's a wonder that she didn't panic more when she heard the door blast open from below. Oh she was scared alright, but Rabastan would never have guessed when he saw a woman wearing an almost maniacal grin that reminded him of his late sister in-law. It was then while fighting Lily that he remember all those years ago when Bellatrix's Aunt Walburga said, "Never underestimate a Black." That was all he could think of as the portraits screamed around him most noticeably was the woman Lily affectionately called Auntie Walburga, well that and throwing as many curses as he could at her. He had been throwing Crucios and Reductos to her Reductos and Sectumsempras while she had been backing him out the door. Suddenly he realized that they were outside and that while she had the higher ground she couldn't duck as well as she had been. That was when Lily got hit with a Crucio and Rabastan got hit by a Sectumsempra to the left shoulder. Lily slammed down her Occlumency Shields in case he had the idea to try to extract information that way. She knew what he was after and she knew what he wanted wasn't possible; Riddle was really gone. She was thankful she had had the foresight to disillusion her satchel and stick it to her back with a sticking charm. What she was upset about was the clothing she was wearing, a neon green sports bra and hot pink Sophies, short cotton shorts, because she had been cleaning and packing up the room she had been wearing her chill clothes. Not that she was able to even think any of this under the cruciatus curse. He let up his hold of the exhausting spell and she stopped thrashing with soundless screams. While he tried to regain his strength Lily did and was able to shot off the first spell that came to mind, well it wasn't a spell, yet. This spell had yet to be tested. It was one that Lily had made by the name of Through Skin, with the incantation of scinde cutis. But when she said that something in Rabastan’s mind shouted and he fired off the verso protego shield which reflect any spell of equal or lesser strength back at the caster. When it hit Lily Luna Potter she disappeared. Rabastan's eyes would have widened slightly before he died from blood loss and the Lupin-Potter-Weasley- and soon to be Malfoy clan would have been devastated. They all would have missed the smart, quiet, little red-headed Potter girl who the Sorting Hat wanted to put in Slytherin, but she had out witted the Hat by saying that no real Slytherin would be in there considering it wasn't cunning at all to be somewhere everyone's suspicions were. That all would have happened if not that at the exact moment she disappeared. She arrived somewhere she had once wished to be and had no place being. Well, all that would have happened until she spoke because at that moment Lily Luna Potter dropped from what appeared to be thin air wearing next to nothing, looking like she had just been tortured, onto the table in the Potter family’s kitchen where Sirius Black, Lily and James Potter were grieving the murder of James’ parents, Dorea Elizabeth Black Potter and Charlus James Potter, the previous day by Death Eaters. 

Lily Luna Potter had left August the 18th of 2026 and arrived in 1979.


	2. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crash landing on your grandparents table is always a shock

Sirius jumped up from the table when he heard a loud crashing noise, knocking over his chair in the process. There in the middle of his best friend's kitchen table was a girl who looks like she just got out of a fight. She was half naked, wearing only a sports bra, shorts, a necklace, and charm bracelet. Sirius' eyes were drawn to the curves of her body. She was a very beautiful girl, no, he corrected himself, she is definitely a woman. She had small, but nice sized breasts; just the right size to fit into his hand. She had nice shapely legs, a flat stomach, and a nice pert arse. She has beautiful auburn hair and plump rosy lips. Sirius wondered what colour eyes she has. 

He looked to James and Lily who also had their wands pointed at the girl. She moaned in pain then her eyes flashed open; Sirius looked at them in shock. Her eyes were the exact same colour as James'. She could be Aunt Dorea's twin. Dorea Potter née Black, his mother's aunt who had died yesterday along with her husband in a Death Eater attack. Sirius looked over at James' in shock, he too has noticed the similarities between his mother and this badly beaten girl in front of them. The girl gripped her wand tightly, still moaning in pain. Suddenly she seemed to notice that there were people watching her and she shot up into a sitting position, her wand pointed at the people surrounding her. Her eyes grew wide as saucers when she recognised the person in front of her. "Sirius," she whispered as she dropped her wand in shock. She started mumbling under her breath words in Latin before her eyes grew wider and it appeared as if she were about to faint. Sirius reached out to catch her if she fell back, when she said his name more loudly, "Sirius?" She asked more than stated. Sirius nodded his head slowly. She started muttering more under her breath; Sirius caught a few words said, "Not possible...never happened before...how...so stupid...dead." She took a deep breath to steady herself, suddenly she reached behind herself to touch her back, didn’t reach it, and yet sighed in relief. She sagged in exhaustion, but kept herself upright.  
James' voice suddenly cut harshly through the silence, "Who are you?" She looked over at him, then a look of shock appeared across her face. She looked around like a deer caught in the headlights, saw Lily then do a double take looking back at her again. She looked like she’s about to pass out again. 

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she said through laboured breaths. Her eyes kept shooting to the faces surrounding her.

"Try me," James said.

She took a deep laboured breath, then said,"I'm Lily Luna Potter, daughter of Harry and Ginevra Potter and your granddaughter." She looked at James' disbelieving face and looked like she is about to laugh, but then gasped in pain, "See I told you, you wouldn't believe me." Her breathing was coming faster now and it seemed like she was in great pain.

"I believe you," James' wife said. The injured girl looked at her in shock.

"Why?" she questioned. Talking seemed to pain her now; she was clutching her ribs in pain.

"Because that's what I would name my son, you look incredible like James' mother, and I feel like I know you and should protect you," Lily said this so sincerely that the injured girl looked likely to burst into tears. "Now why don't we get you healed up, then you can tell us how you got here." Lily tried to help her from the table, but before she does the girl took her wand and reached behind her back and did two spells. A brown leather satchel appeared and she brought it around to the front of her body and clutched to it to herself like a life line.

"I'll look after it while Lily heals you," Sirius said softly like he was talking to an injured animal. She nodded, but was hesitant in handing it over, “I won't look through it if that's what your worried about," Sirius again said softly hoping she will go with Lily to get healed. James' granddaughter slowly handed over the bag to Sirius who put it on his shoulder, after putting her wand in it, and followed Lily down the hall toward the master bedroom. 

James stood there in shock and Sirius, putting a hand on his best friend’s shoulder, lead him to the living room and pushed him down onto the couch. That seemed to snap him out of it and he glared up at Sirius. Sirius plopped down onto the arm chair across from James and put the bag by his feet. They sat in silence for a while thinking about the girl who appeared on the kitchen table when   
Sirius suddenly said, "So what are we going to do about her?"

James’ looked at Sirius like he had said, "Let's go take on a dragon."

Sirius cleared his throat, looking somewhat put out at being looked at like he was crazy, and repeated himself, "What are we going to do about your granddaughter?"

James looked at Sirius blankly, "What do you mean 'what are we going to do about her?'"

Sirius looked annoyed that James hadn't figured out what he was referring to and said exasperatedly, "I mean how in the world are we going to explain her sudden appearance into our lives. You know if anyone finds out where she's from there will be hell to pay."

What Sirius was inferring suddenly became clear to James and his face paled a few shades. He was doing some quick thinking, "Well… she looks a lot like my mum. Do you think she could pass as my sister?" 

Sirius thought for a moment, nodded slowly, then said, "But, how will we explain no one knowing about her for this long?"

James looked thoughtful, then snapped his fingers with a grin and said, “Remember when my Dad talking about the time when I was a baby and my family was receiving pressure from the old families," James paused and looked at Sirius, who nodded. "Well, we can say my parents were scared if the old families knew they were having another child then the pressure would get worse. We can say that when they found out they were having a girl they were even more scared so decided not to tell anyone of her birth."

Sirius was nodding along with James, but then said, "What about Hogwarts, why won't she have gotten her letter?" 

Both of them were deep in thought when they both suddenly said, "The wards!" They were both nodding quickly so James continued, "I didn't show up on the list until I left the wards. Okay so she never left the wards and the only ones who knew she existed were my parents and myself? Don't you think I would have told you and Lily though? I mean you've been living with us since you were 16 and I'm married to Lily." James looked over at Sirius silently asking.

Sirius nodded slowly, "Yeah, there's no way I could not have known about her. I think you would have told Lily after you were engaged. Probably at that dinner we had after the engagement that was just your family. That would have been a good time to introduce her to Lily. She'll have to change her name though Aunt Dorea would have named her something more pureblooded. Did your mum ever say what she would have named you if you had been a girl?"

James nodded, "No, but she told me my middle name would have been Elizabeth. I think she would have wanted to honor the Blacks a bit though."

"Well, she said her middle name was Luna, right, so her first name could have something to do with the moon and is close enough to being a Black name that we could say that's the reasoning behind it," Sirius responded.

The boys kept going back and forth on how to make James' new sister realistic. They were mostly done by the time the girls came back from healing Harry’s daughter. James’ new 'sister' walked in wearing one of Lily's nightgowns, her long messy auburn hair flowing to her waist. They both walked in bare foot and Lily went to sit next to by her husband and the other girl hesitated before heading to another arm chair. Sirius' eyes followed her as she walked, James noticed and shouted, "Sirius!" to snap him out of it. "So," James said more calmly this time, "We thought of a way to explain your sudden appearance. It's obvious you look like my mother so we'll pass you off as her daughter, my sister, okay?" She nodded hesitantly and he continued, "We'll have to change your name and make it a bit more fitting to this time period and to the Potter and Black family traditions. We thought that you could use the middle name Elizabeth, that's what my mum would have used for me if I had been a girl, and something having to do with the moon for your first name to honour the Black tradition and for your real middle name Luna. Do you have any preferences?"

"I've always liked the name Celina," Lily said and James nodded figuring it would work. 

"Celina Elizabeth Potter," the former Lily Evans said as if trying the words out on her tongue. "Yeah, I like it, I think it suits you."  
James continued in clarifying the plan to the newly christened Celina. How she was hidden away because of the threats to the Potter family. How she didn’t receive her Hogwarts letter because of the wards surrounding Potter Manor. He was explaining that 'their' parents would have taught Celina everything she knew when Celina suddenly interrupted asking, "What's the date?" 

All of them looked surprised that that hadn't come up yet so Sirius said, "Today is August, 18th 1979."

Celina looked relieved, but pressed on, "And Jamie, when were you born?"

He replied looking somewhat confused, "March, 27th 1960 why?"

Celina looked very happy, "Oh because I was wondering if I could keep my birthday and age and it seems that I can."

The confused expression washed off James face, "So how old will you be on your birthday and when is it?"

Celina blushed a bit, "Well, I was born on August, 23rd and will be 18 in 5 days. So I'm almost a year and a half younger than you."

Celina's grandmother turned sister in-law looked happy, "Oh really, that's so exciting!" Lily turned to look at James and Sirius and asked, "Do you think we should introduce her to people then? We can say that Dorea and Charlus meant to hold a ball to introduce her when she was eighteen, but with the war going on were not able to organize it and that with their deaths Celina refused to be hidden anywhere else because she wanted to help fight against the people who took them from her." Lily was about to continue when Celina let out a heart wrenching sob.

"They're dead?" the girl who was still a child whispered. She was heart broken. She had always wanted to meet Dorea because of her connection to the Black family and her own resemblance towards the woman. James nodded slowly looking sad himself. Celina flew into James' arms and started sobbing, "Oh Jamie, they're dead. I'm so sorry, I didn't know they'd already died. Kreacher never did tell me how they died. He always looked so sad when we got close to her death that I never asked and the tapestry only says the year." Tears were streaming down the hysterical girl’s face, "Oh Merlin," she turned suddenly looking at Sirius, "Please tell me Reggie's alive." Her voice had taken on a begging quality that broke Sirius' heart so he nodded slowly. James was rubbing circles gently on his 'sister’s’ back looking sad and slightly bewildered.

Sirius' expression suddenly looked very confused, "Did you say Kreacher?" His voice was incredulous and unbelieving, "The house elf from Grimmauld Place?"

Celina was calming now, but her 5’1” body was still curled up in her newly named brother's lap. She nodded to Sirius answering, "Yes, you left the house to my father and that's where I grew up. I was actually moving out today when I was attacked."

Lily looked like they had finally gotten to the part she wanted to ask about, "So you were attacked before you got here," Celina nodded, "And that's how you got injured," Celina nodded again. Lily looked thoughtful before saying, "But not how you got here right." Celina again nodded, "Then how did you get to this time? Traveling back this far is supposed to be impossible."

Celina still curled up in James' lap replied slowly retreating closer into his warm body the more she said, "I don't know actually. I can guess, but it's still odd. I think I was sent back by my own spell. We were fighting at Grimmauld Place; I had just finished packing when I heard the door blast open and I knew my family wouldn’t be back for a few hours so I disillusioned my satchel to my back," they looked confused so she explained, "My whole life is in there. Everything I own including my books and cat so there was no way I was leaving it behind if I had to leave. Oh Merlin," She gasped she was looking around in panic, "Sirius, where is the bag I gave to you?" Sirius quickly gave her the bag and she opened it, stuck her both her arms in and came out with the cage for a cat, who was thankfully still sleeping. Celina breathed a sigh of relief and also grabbed her wand out of the bag and continued settling back into James’ lap, “So, as I was saying, I heard the door being blown open and my family was at my grandmother's house and Kreacher was at Hogwarts because that's where I sent him so he wouldn't try to help me pack. I already had my wand in my hand as I had been using it to help me pack so I apparated downstairs and started throwing spells, I was backing him out the door dodging most of his spells and blocking the rest. When I was in the doorway he hit me with the cruciatus while I hit him with a Sectumsempra. He let up after a while and during that time I threw my spell at him, but he reflected it back at me. It was supposed to be a cutting curse, but it obviously didn't work."

Lily looked speculative and a bit confused, "You keep referring to it as your spell, why?"

Celina laughed a bit sadly, cuddling into James further until it looked like he was holding a child, "It is my spell," she replied, "As I crafted it, I've been crafting spells for years now," she poked James's side and said, "Your cousin Michelle's daugter has been teaching me since I've had a wand." James looked stunned his cousin, Michelle, was an amazing Crafter, but was a bit on the ditzy side. Lily looked like what she had been thinking had just been confirmed. Sirius looked amazed. Celina continued looking a bit mad at herself,   
"I can't believe that I tried a spell in a duel that I had never tested. I'm always so careful too. If Auntie Luna was here she'd skin me alive." Celina sighed and looked like she was about to start crying again so James started rubbing her back again. It seemed to calm her down and it was to the point that it looked like she would fall asleep, "Thanks Jamie," she murmured against his chest.

James looked confused, "Celina, why do you keep calling me Jamie?" When he asked that her lower lip started to tremble,"Not that I mind," James said quickly, "It's just that no one has called me that before, it's always been James."

His quick reply had calmed her down and she replied softly, "Jamie's what I call my older brother," the group looked confused so she went on to clarify, "My brother's name is James Sirius Potter. Everyone called him Jamie before he went to Hogwarts, but now I'm the only one who can get away with it, or I was before I came here."

Lily looked hesitant to say anything, but knew it had to be said, "How are you going to get back?"

Celina looked surprised that Lily had asked that, “I can’t it’s not possible," as Lily looked confused she continued, "Think of time as a cassette tape. As soon as I came back here I overwrote everything that I know as history. The future is still unwritten; I cut through the skins of time and transported myself back almost 50 years." 

Lily was still trying to wrap her head around the idea so asked, "Do you know how you got here?"

Celina replied, "I can guess, but I will never be 100% sure. My guess is that my spell sends its target through time by cutting through the skins of time. The root of my spell means cutting through skin, I guess magic took it differently than I intended."


End file.
